《古镇的梦》--卞之琳
小镇上有两种声音
一样的寂寥:
白天是算命锣,
夜里是梆子。
敲不破别人的梦,
做着梦似的
瞎子在街上走,
一步又一步。
他知道哪一块石头低,
哪一块石头高,
哪一家姑娘有多大年纪。
敲沉了别人的梦,
做着梦似的
更夫在街上走,
一步又一步。
他知道哪一块石头低,
哪一块石头高,
哪一家门户关得最严密。
“三更了,你听哪,
毛儿的爸爸,
这小子吵得人睡不成觉,
老在梦里哭,
明天替他算算命吧?”
是深夜,
又是清冷的下午:
敲梆的过桥,
敲锣的又过桥,
不断的是桥下流水的声音。
Dreamof an Old Town
Bian Zhilin
Two sounds in the old town
—equally melancholic
are the daily fortune-teller’s gong,
and the nightly watchman’s clappers.
Not apt to disturb other’s dreams,
as if in a dream himself,
the blind fortune-teller walks thestreets
step by step,
knowing so well which flagstones arelow,
which high;
how old the daughters of a certainfamily might be…
Then making others go deeper into theirdreams,
he himself as if in a dream,
the watchman goes his rounds
step by step,
knowing well which flagstones are low,
which high;
which doors are tightly shut.
“Listen, it’s the third watch already,”
A good wife says,
“Mao Er’s dad!
The boy cries ever in his dreams,
stopping us from sleeping;
we must have his fortune told tomorrow.”
Comes midnight for one,
a cold afternoon for the other.
He with clappers crosses the bridge,
he with gong crosses also,
while beneath the water flows on, evermurmuring.
(RewiAlley 译)